"He's a special player," the Cavaliers head coach said hours before Game 2. "With LeBron (James) playing the way he's been playing of late, we really haven't called Kyrie's number a lot lately. But he's primed and ready to go off at any time and we know that."

Mount Irving erupted early Friday night.

The Cavs' goal going into Game 2 was to once again set the tone, understanding the down-in-the-series Celtics were going to come out with a sense of desperation and the green-clad fans were going to be lively.

Cleveland started slow, leading by just one point, 11-10, at the 6:35 mark of the first quarter. Then came one of those familiar runs, ignited by the team's All-Star point guard. In about two minutes of game action, following a 10-0 run, where Irving scored five of the points, the crowd went silent and the Cavs had taken control.

Staying aggressive, something Lue has demanded of Irving since taking over, Irving looked for switches repeatedly and attacked every defender in front of him. He spun around Gerald Green once. He blew past other defenders with relative ease, scoring all four baskets in the paint.

By the end of the first quarter, Irving had nine points on 4-of-7 from the field and the Cavaliers had what looked like an insurmountable 14-point lead.

But Irving was just getting warmed up. So, too, were the Cavs.

His repeated drives helped soften the Boston defense, as it no longer wanted to give up layups. That's when the Celtics started helping, which led to a customary Cleveland 3-point barrage. The Cavs made four triples in the first quarter and six more in the second. By the time the first half ended, the dominant Cavs had a 41-point lead and had made one fewer 3 than the Celtics had total field goals (11).

"Well, when he's getting into the paint, and we have shooting on the floor, it's tough," Lue said. "You've got to pick your poison. When we're getting into the paint, either Kyrie and Bron can finish or they kick out for three. We're shooting the ball well. It's a tough dilemma. It was good seeing him aggressive early and playing with that pace. I thought he played with a good pace to start the game."

Irving finished the night with 23 points on 8-of-11 from the field, his best percentage in this year's playoffs, and 3-of-6 from beyond the arc.

Friday marked the first time Irving had made that many 3-pointers since Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Sometimes a scorer just needs to get a few easy looks at the rim for his shooting rhythm to return. It appeared that was the case for Irving, who spent early Friday morning hoisting extra jumpers prior to shootaround and having conversations with Lue, where the coach reminded Irving that he was still helping the Cavs in other ways even if the shots weren't falling the way he's used to.

That's a testament to Irving's maturity, which has been on display throughout the postseason. He hasn't forced it. He's stayed true to the main objective. He is solely focused on what's best for the team.

In some games, Irving will need to be the team's distributor, helping the offense take advantage of other favorable matchups. That's what happened in Game 1, as Irving dished out six assists while Kevin Love, James and Tristan Thompson handled the bulk of scoring.

That's what happened throughout the Toronto series, as Irving averaged a postseason career-high 8.5 assists per game.

But other nights will be a reminder of Irving's ability to explode, showing why he's one of the league's most gifted scorers.

Irving's mini-run in the fourth quarter of Game 4 during the conference semifinals ended the Raptors' season.

On Friday, he helped turn Game 2 against Boston into a laugher -- a night that could very well end up being the final basketball get-together at the TD Garden this year.